Milk loss assistance is being made available by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Announced today, assistance from the Milk Loss Program (MLP) can be applied for through October 16. The program administered by USDA’s Farm Service Agency will provide support for dairy operations that suffered certain losses in the 2020, 2021, and 2022 calendar years.
MLP assistance is available for operations that dumped milk as a result of disaster events including wildfires, winter storms, excessive heat, freeze, floods, and hurricanes. Impacts of smoke exposure also qualify producers for the MLP. Each application for the program covers the loss in a single calendar month. The duration of yearly claims will be limited to 30 days per year for 2020, 2021 and 2022. MLP payments and percentages will be based on a calculated formula. Socially disadvantaged, beginning, limited resource, and veteran farmers and ranchers will be paid 90 percent. All other producers will receive 75 percent.
FSA Administrator Zach Ducheneaux said the program will be a valuable tool for producers that had no choice but to dump milk during disasters. Groups such as the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) expressed gratitude for the milk loss assistance. NMPF noted that it has been a difficult few years and a lack of timely support for producers impacted by catastrophic weather only added to the challenges.
“We’re very appreciative of USDA’s diligent work over several months to finalize the compensation plan that will address this backlog of disaster assistance,” NMPF President and CEO Jim Mulhern said in a press release. “We encourage both Congress and USDA to find ways to address future natural disasters more quickly. We also urge farmers affected by these disasters to sign up, and we stand ready to assist them as they go through this process.”
Brian German
Ag News Director / AgNet West